CHARGERS: The best and worst of 50 years of Bolts football

To celebrate the Chargers' 50th season, the North County Times
reflects on 25 cherished memories and 25 recollections Chargers
fans would rather forget.

Top 25

1. Super Chargers

The NFL's 75th season was toasted in a Super way by the
Chargers, who advanced to the first ---- and only ---- Super Bowl
in franchise history in January 1995.

2. Champs

The Chargers have claimed one league title in 49 seasons, and it
came in 1963, when they pounded the Boston Patriots 51-10 to win
the AFL championship.

3. Moving south

After their inaugural season in Los Angeles, the Chargers and
team owner Barron Hilton ---- yep, Paris' grandfather ---- were
lured to San Diego with the prospect of playing at Balboa Stadium
in front of fans starved for a professional team to call their
own.

4. Sir Sid

Coach Sid Gillman gave the franchise instant credibility when he
switched from the Rams to the Chargers for their debut in 1960. He
also revolutionized the game with his aggressive passing game,
which did wonders to sell the AFL as an exciting alternative to the
conservative NFL.

5. Air Coryell

Don Coryell picked up the mantle left behind years earlier by
Gillman and filled the San Diego skies with passes and AFC West
titles.

6. It is what it is

General manager A.J. Smith, building on the foundation laid by
close friend John Butler, flipped the Chargers' roster and
transformed the team from a doormat to one of the NFL's most
successful teams of the decade.

7. Horse, of course

Remember the white Chargers horse that once rode around Balboa
Stadium during games?

8. By George, a legend

George Pernicano, a famous local restaurateur, was among the
business leaders who helped get the Chargers to San Diego. He
remains a minority owner and, to many around the league, the face
of the Chargers as a rare link to their AFL days.

9. Stan the Man

Among GM Bobby Beathard's greatest trades was acquiring
quarterback Stan Humphries from the Redskins in the wake of John
Friesz blowing out his knee in the 1992 preseason opener. Humphries
led the Chargers to the Super Bowl in the 1994 season.

10. Say wow

Homegrown product Junior Seau was like a Tasmanian devil roaming
the field. A 12-time Pro Bowler, he has a spot in the Pro Football
Hall of Fame that's all but guaranteed ---- if he ever officially
retires.

11. Welcome home

The sight of a packed Jack Murphy Stadium will long burn in the
hearts of Chargers faithful after the team upset the Steelers in
1994 AFC Championship Game. It was an outpouring of Chargers
support never seen before or since.

12. Bambi

Lance Alworth was one of San Diego's first stars, making
headlines with acrobatic catches that defied gravity. Despite his
small stature, Alworth turned in one big game after another on his
way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

13. Charlie says

Charlie Joiner always said, 'Do it right the first time,' and he
did. Has there ever been a more reliable route-runner than Joiner,
who led the NFL in career receptions when he retired? He's now a
Chargers coach, and the younger generation would be wise to listen
to this class act.

14. The bearded wonder

Quarterback Dan Fouts was one mean son of a gun ---- there
likely has never been bigger competitor. With his gutsy willingness
to stay in the pocket and absorb numerous hits, he allowed Air
Coryell to take flight by buying time so the receivers could work
their magic downfield.

15. Winded Winslow

Tight end Kellen Winslow was all over the field in the Chargers'
epic win on a hot, humid day in Miami in the 1981 divisional
playoff game. The picture of Winslow being carried off the field
after the Chargers' victory is a classic.

16. Gibby's bat-down

The Steelers appeared poised to rally and defeat the
nine-point-underdog Chargers in the 1994 AFC Championship Game. But
on a fourth-down pass in the waning minutes, linebacker Dennis
Gibson broke up Neil O'Donnell's pass and sent the Chargers'
sideline ---- and San Diego ---- into a wild celebration,

17. 11th heaven

Any win over the Raiders is sweet, but the current run of 11
straight victories over the Silver and Black is unprecedented.

18. L.T. in '06

In one of the most astonishing seasons in NFL history, LaDainian
Tomlinson ran to the MVP award by scoring a record-setting 31
touchdowns and leading the league in rushing.

19. Artful Carney

The team's all-time points leader, John Carney was among the
most solid players ever to wear a Chargers uniform ---- by far the
best kicker in team history.

20. Lincoln logs

Keith Lincoln enjoyed one of the top individual performances in
team history when he recorded 349 total yards in the AFL title game
win in 1963.

21. Monster Muncie

Has there ever been a more powerful, shifty, harder-to-tackle
Chargers back than Chuck Muncie? Because of his tough running, the
skies opened up for the vaunted Air Coryell attack.

22. Rolf and Louie

Kicker Rolf Benirschke, weak and recovering from a serious
illness, joined Louie Kelcher at midfield for the coin flip in 1979
against the Steelers. The image remains one of the most endearing
in Chargers' history.

23. Watching Butts

The sight of bruising running back Marion Butts galloping 54
yards for a touchdown in the San Diego rain to help upend the
Chiefs in the 1992 wild card game was a thing of beauty.

24. Up and over

In the 1986 season opener against Miami, running back Gary
Anderson seemingly took off from Mission Bay and landed in the end
zone for a touchdown. A staple of highlight films for eternity.

25. The trade

Where would the Chargers be without the transaction that sent
Eli Manning to the Giants in exchange for a haul that eventually
netted Philip Rivers, Shawne Merriman, Nate Kaeding and Roman
Oben?

Bottom 25

1. Stupor Chargers

Maybe it was the big stage or the fact that Kathie Lee Gifford
sang the national anthem before Super Bowl XXIX. The overmatched
Chargers were blasted by San Francisco, 49-26.

2. Stale Leaf

For Bolts boosters, the worst words ever spoken might have been,
"With the second selection in the draft, the Chargers take Ryan
Leaf.''

3. Catch and don't release

The Chargers had a 2006 playoff win over the Patriots sewed up
when Marlon McCree picked off Tom Brady. But instead of falling on
the ball and the Chargers killing the clock, McCree headed upfield
and fumbled away the ball, and the Chargers eventually lost.

4. Bobby vs. Bobby

It wasn't the Spanos family's finest hour when, instead of
making general manager Bobby Beathard and Super Bowl coach Bobby
Ross find common ground, they fired Ross in this classic power
struggle.

5. Freeway to nowhere

The joke goes that after the Chargers' dreadful season in 2000,
the name of the interstate outside its facility was switched from
I-15 to 1-15.

6. Boston beans

The Chargers' bean counters figured it was worth the dough to
sign troubled free-agent WR David Boston ---- he was an epic
bust.

7. Keeping Kemp

The Chargers should have done just that with quarterback Jack
Kemp, but instead tried to sneak him through waivers and he was
claimed by the Buffalo Bills. Kemp led the Bills to two AFL title
game victories over the Chargers.

8. Mix up

There are few Chargers prouder ---- or more talented ---- than
left tackle Ron Mix. But because Mix left the Chargers to play for
the Raiders, he never had his number retired despite being
enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

9. Feeling a draft

General manager A.J. Smith, in his first NFL draft, traded out
of a spot where USC's Troy Polamalu, a future All-Pro with
Pittsburgh, was available and instead took defensive backs Sammy
Davis and Terrence Kiel ---- a colossal blunder.

10. Gilbride's short stay

With Ross pushed out the door, Beathard hired first-time NFL
head coach Kevin Gilbride. He didn't stay long, going 6-16 and
being canned before finishing his second season.

11. Eight is enough

From 1983-1991, the Chargers never eclipsed the eight-win mark
in a season and missed the playoffs for nine straight years before
Ross came aboard in 1992.

12. Winslow oversight

Winslow made people rethink how tight ends can contribute to an
offense. But it's offensive that the Chargers never retired his
number, despite his being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

13. Getting bounced

In an encore to their 1994 Super Bowl season, the Chargers
couldn't advance past the first round of the playoffs. The Colts,
led by future Chargers quarterback Jim Harbaugh, upset the reigning
AFC champions in a wild-card game in San Diego.

14. Coryell crime

It's hard to believe Don Coryell isn't in the Pro Football Hall
of Fame, considering the success he had and that his fingerprints
are on countless NFL offenses. Coryell belongs with the game's best
and brightest.

15. 0-2

The Chargers lost their first two AFC Championship Games after
the 1980 and '81 seasons. One came at the hands of the Raiders. The
other was to the Bengals on the frozen banks of the Ohio River in
one of the coldest games ever played in the NFL.

16. Fouts and five

The 1979 Chargers were among the most stout teams in franchise
history. But they were ousted from the playoffs in the opening
round when Fouts heaved five interceptions in a loss to the Gifford
Nielsen-led Houston Oilers.

17. Drugs and football

The early 1970s brought the Chargers to the forefront of
professional sports wrestling with the demons of drug use.

18. 14-2 means the boot

It's still hard to believe that Marty Schottenheimer was shown
the door after a 14-2 season, but losing in the first round of the
playoffs sealed his fate. That Smith and Schottenheimer couldn't
say more than hello to each other in Schottenheimer's final season
is an embarrassment to both men.

19. Another loss

Ravaged by injuries, the Chargers dropped their third of four
AFC Championship Games to end the 2007 season when they lost to the
Patriots on a bone-chilling afternoon in New England.

20. We want a new stadium

Some two years after Qualcomm Stadium underwent extensive
restoration, team owner Alex Spanos said the team needed a new
venue. That didn't go over well with the cash-strapped city or
fans.

21. Bennett's tryout

It was comical when Aussie Darren Bennett showed up for a tryout
and the first snap bounced of his faceguard. But from that start,
he become the most proficient punter the Chargers ever
employed.

22. David Griggs

The Chargers have been hit by many off-the-field tragedies.
Griggs, a linebacker on the Super Bowl team, died the following
summer in a car accident. He was the first Charger to die while on
the active roster.

23. Collapsing Chargers

The Bolts began the strike-marred 1987 season 8-1, then dropped
their final six games to miss the playoffs.

24. Cold Brooks

A decorated military veteran, equipment manager Sid Brooks was
knocked out by a chuck of ice thrown from the stands in the
visiting Chargers' 1995 win over the Giants.

25. Camp Carson

In stiff-arming their most passionate boosters, the Chargers
moved their popular training camp from UC San Diego to the Home
Depot Center in Carson in 2003. Hoping to scare San Diego into
building a new stadium, the Chargers instead prevented many fans
from their only up-close exposure to the players.